Chapter 44: Venom
Scorbunny yelled up ahead, telling Steenee to wait up. It could only see faint blurs of green every time it turned a corner. Every new direction of the alleyway was getting closer and closer to that of a guess. Until eventually, a turn came up Scorbunny was sure Steenee had headed towards turned out to be a dead end.
Unbeknownst to it, a tall figure stepped up quietly in the shadows. It’s sultry pink eye watched with intent as Scorbunny looked around desperately as to where Steenee could’ve gone. It took a step forward, but a glimmer on the window caught its eye. It turned around to see the blinking light.
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The figure closed its eyes in an amusing fashion and darted off towards the roofs.
“Scorbunny!” called Ceailean. Scorbunny looked back just as Ceailean caught up with it. “What are you running for? Was something watching us?” Scorbunny shook its head and mimicked Steenee and Roselia and pointed at the dead end. “Steenee and Roselia?” Ceailean then gasped. He looked around and noticed that they were gone, as well as Fomantis.
“What the heck? Where did they go?” Noibat looked around as well before deciding to focus and listen. The carnival crowd was loud, the sounds of food cooking was distracting, but eventually it heard something. A muffled cry. Noibat turned around and shouted, pointing to a shadow. Ceailean just caught two figures jumping away before they disappeared.
“The roof!” Ceailean looked around quickly. “Noibat! Use air cutter on that fire escape ladder!” Noibat used its good wing to fire an air blade at the latch holding the ladder. The attack bashed against the metal and dropped the ladder. Scorbunny decided not to wait and used the railings and the wall to launch itself upwards quickly. “Solosis! Follow Scorbunny! We’ll be right behind you!” Solosis nodded and flew up after it. Ceailean picked up Noibat and climbed the fire escape as fast as he could.
Scorbunny hopped high over the rooftops and continued the chase. It clearly saw two silhouettes moving across at a fast pace. It had to move now. As soon as it landed, it raced ahead at a blistering speed, leaving behind a small pile of fire with each footstep. Before Steenee and Roselia could react, Scorbunny sped ahead of them and stood in their way.
Scorbunny took a deep breath and sighed, covered in the faint light of the waning moon. Steenee and Roselia took a subtle defensive pose, both drowned in shadow from the nearby building. Scorbunny stretched its arms out comfortingly and asked why they were so scared.
Steenee and Roselia looked at each other, confused. Scorbunny told of the explosions and how there was no need to run away. Ceailean and his friends were the ones to trust. He would always come through to get them out of any situation, no matter how bad it was. So it asked Steenee and Roselia to come back and trust him.
A moment of silence followed. Steenee snickered with a smirk, somewhat startling Roselia. It asked Steenee just what it was doing. The question only made Steenee start full on laughing. Roselia, slightly put off by this, took a step back. Steenee walked up and placed a hand on Roselia’s shoulder. With a soft devious smile, it told Roselia to pack it up and stop pretending.
Scorbunny’s jaw dropped. Pretending? Whatever could they mean by that? It stepped closer, asking what they were doing. They both stared at Scorbunny before looking back at each other. They nodded in understanding and Steenee stepped forward. Scorbunny wanted to go closer, but for some reason, its feet wouldn’t let it. There was a huge weight of danger in the air.
Steenee stepped forward with its arms behind its back. It’s expression was deceivingly sweet, complete with an off smile. It teetered around and said that it really didn’t want Scorbunny to get involved. It had to hide who it was in order to get away.
Scorbunny’s faith began to grow back. To get away? From who? They were on the run? Why didn’t they tell Scorbunny sooner, it knew Ceailean could help. It stepped closer to offer a helping hand.
Solosis flew up behind Steenee and Roselia. It was shocked to see what was going on. Behind Roselia’s back was Fomantis, forcibly contorted with vines to fit behind Roselia’s body in a way that made it look like it was carrying a bag if no one was looking. Then, Roselia put a hand behind its back. Tiny, razor sharp, rainbow leaves jutted out like knives. Scorbunny was getting closer to Steenee.
Solosis shouted to Scorbunny, telling it to get back. Scorbunny stopped in its tracks as Solosis got everyone’s attention. Solosis shot a psywave at Roselia. Roselia scoffed and used magical leaf to intercept the attack. The collision caused a massive explosion that engulfed the roof in dust. Scorbunny coughed away the dust in its lungs and asked what Solosis was doing.
Solosis tried to explain that Roselia has Fomantis against its will. Scorbunny’s expression turned to that of horror. It took a step forward and stammered that Roselia would never do such a thing. It was so shy when Scorbunny first met it, it was hard to imagine it would ever hurt anything.
Through the dust cloud, Roselia sighed. Scorbunny looked around, asking for Roselia to confirm if what it said was true. Roselia spoke out, its voice as cold as ice. Scorbunny really was naïve, wasn’t it? Scorbunny spotted Roselia through the dissipating cloud and noticed its cold expression. It’s eyes shot like icicles and a frown that made it seem like it's never smiled before.
Scorbunny stepped back, not even sure what to do or say. Steenee sighed and told Roselia to wrap it up. Roselia nodded and tossed the bundled up Fomantis away to the side. Scorbunny reached out an arm calling for it. But before it could move, Roselia twirled around and exploded into a huge dome of dazzling light.
Ceailean ran across the rooftops with Noibat close to his chest. All of a sudden, the rooftop in front of them flashed a huge bright light and exploded. “What the hell?! We gotta hurry! Noibat, do you trust me?” Noibat gave him a determined nod and braced for what came next. Ceailean ran full speed ahead and jumped on the edge of the roof and high as he could. He made it to the other roof and rolled upon landing. Once he reached the outer edge of the dust cloud, he slid to a halt. Gravel kicked up at his feet as he did so.
“Where are they?” Ceailean asked, looking all around. Noibat climbed its way out of Ceailean grip and jumped straight towards the center of the dust cloud. Upon landing, it immediately exploded into dragon rush, dispersing the cloud in an instant.
Scorbunny and Solosis were on the floor. Steenee dusted itself off and asked Roselia to give it a heads up next time. Roselia argued back, saying Steenee should’ve been ready. Noibat fell to its knees in pain and looked at Steenee, knowing what was going on now.
“What is going on here?!” demanded Ceailean. He then noticed Fomantis, tied up on the floor seemingly struggling to breath. “Fomantis?!” He ran over to it, only to be stopped when magical leaves shot all around his path. Steenee scoffed, saying Roselia missed. Roselia fired back saying that Steenee wouldn’t know how to lead shots worth a damn. It was just that Ceailean had a higher reaction speed than it expected.
“So is this what I think it is? You’re betraying us?” asked Ceailean. Scorbunny couldn’t believe its ears. Betrayal? No way? It sat up and looked at Steenee, waiting for its answer. Steenee happily tilted its head and smiled. Of course they were betraying them. Scorbunny was distraught. It desperately crawled closer to Steenee, saying that it couldn't possibly mean what it said. It was a trick, a lie, a prank!
Steenee stepped on Scorbunny’s head and shoved it into the ground. Steenee smiled sadistically, saying Scorbunny wasn’t entirely wrong. It was all a trick. If everything went ideally, they would’ve never been talking in the first place. But Scorbunny had to play goody two shoes. If Scorbunny could set its sights on any Pokémon, it would try to make friends with as many of them as possible. It worked out quite well honestly. That’s how they were able to stay under the radar for so long.
Scorbunny was on the verge of tears. From the very beginning? Scorbunny desperately asked if anything they did together was real? Steenee gave a devious laugh. It bent down near Scorbunny’s ear and called their friendship nothing more than a means to an end and thanked it for playing the part so well.
Scorbunny couldn’t take it anymore. It was so wrought with grief that its limbs lost their will and went limp. Scorbunny has never felt more defeated as it did before. This was different from Tuviere. No, this was worse, much worse. A friend, a true friend it thought it had, all for it to be a waste, a lie?
Steenee sensed Scorbunny’s broken spirit and laughed again. It was adorable to see Scorbunny like that. Steenee crushed Scorbunny’s head on the ground and vowed to fix that feeling for it.
“Get away from it!” Ceailean threw a rock with deadly accuracy. Without looking, Steenee caught it and tossed right back towards Ceailean’s head. Ceailean clenched his teeth and dodged right at the last second. The rock bashed against a nearby AC unit, pulverizing on impact. Steenee berated Ceailean, saying for him to stay out of Pokémon affairs. Ceailean could only grumble as he waited for an opening.
Steenee looked down upon Scorbunny, asking itself where it left off. Just then, an air blade flew through the air at Steenee. Steenee groaned and turned around, bashing down on the attack to split it in half. The halves flew off to the sides and exploded harmlessly on the edges of nearby buildings. Noibat shrieked, saying Steenee was going to pay for everything it's done. Especially for what it did to Scorbunny.
Steenee bent down with its arms on its hips, skeptically observing Noibat and saying that Noibat stood no chance in the condition it was in. Noibat grimaced, knowing there was truth in that statement. Then all of the sudden, Roselia noticed a harsh red light pouring out from the gravel underneath it. It dodged to the side just as the gravel under it exploded into red sparks and shrapnel. Roselia asked who would dare. Solosis flew around tauntingly, saying that it would personally teach them some manners.
Steenee smiled. As if Solosis was one to talk. Steenee claimed to have figured Solosis out in the first hour of meeting. An entitled child who couldn’t restrain itself worth a damn. Solosis angrily growled at this. Steenee swept its hair like appendage to the side, saying that Ceailean practically had to keep it on a leash to stop it from causing it more trouble. The crowd chase and also that weird guy they met in the alleyway, Steenee was sure that Ceailean could name many more examples.
Solosis shook the accusations away, saying that it had always been useful to Ceailean. Steenee chuckled and dared it to name even one time that it solved a problem. Solosis thought and thought, but nothing came to mind, no matter how much it wanted to spout something out. Steenee laughed again and then challenged Noibat to the same question. Solosis anxiously looked upon Noibat to say something. Noibat however, scoffed and looked the other way.
Solosis tried its best to hide its insecurity and boldly told Steenee that what it said doesn't mean anything. Solosis would defeat Steenee here and that would prove Solosis was right. Steenee laughed the loudest it has and sarcastically said that it was so scared. Roselia chimed in, saying Solosis wasn’t even worth the plastic of the pokeball it lived in was made of, much less than an actual threat to consider. Steenee hopped back in on the conversation and spouted that Solosis was probably the weakest pokemon there, save Fomantis.
Solosis has had enough. It was raring to go and told the both of them to shut up. Steenee and Roselia both assumed battle stances and dared Solosis to try. Solosis took this offer in stride and fired a psywave directly at Steenee.
“No! Solosis!” said Ceailean. Steenee smiled and its hair appendages glowed a bright white. It bashed the psywave away to the side. Then before Solosis could even react, Roselia fired back with magical leaf. The attack peppered Solosis with small explosions and sent it flying back against a brick wall. Noibat then charged in with a tackle. Steenee grabbed Noibat before it could even get close and piledrived it in front of Scorbunny before bashing the both of them off the roof.
“Scorbunny! Noibat!” Ceailean ran to the edge of the roof, Steenee and Roselia letting him pass. Noibat and Scorbunny both tumbled onto the street below, directly within busy traffic. Noibat wasn’t keen on getting hit by a car again so it tried to move out of the way. But then it noticed Scorbunny standing up without an ounce of concern. Noibat doubled back at grabbed Scorbunny by the arm and tugged it on top of the sidewalk right as a van drove past, beeping for them to get out of the way.
Noibat sprawled over to Scorbunny and asked what was going on. Scorbunny’s expression was full of sorrow and any fighting spirit it once had, Noibat could sense anymore. Noibat looked back up to the roof and saw Ceailean looking down on them with Steenee and Roselia standing beside him.
“I’m coming guys! Hold on!” Ceailean lowered himself and hung off the edge of the roof, dropping from windowsill to windowsill. Noibat turned back to Scorbunny and told it to get ready as Steenee and Roselia were bound to be coming right behind Ceailean. Scorbunny gave an unenthusiastic nod and stood up to watch them come down. Ceailean rolled off the awning of a store, startling the customers inside and ran through the street. A couple cars hard stopped as he passed and honked at him. He waved them down and apologized before continuing onto the other side.
“You guys okay?!” asked Ceailean. Noibat nodded, but looked over to Scorbunny with a worried expression. Scorbunny held its chest, the emotional pain still affecting it. “Scorbunny-” Before he could say anything, Steenee and Roselia landed next to them and assumed their battle stances. Fomantis was wrapped around the neck with a vine from Roselia.
“All for Fomantis? Really? And to think I thought those punks chasing us were bad. You two can’t possibly have anything against it, so that could only mean one thing.” Ceailean stepped forward. “Who the hell sent you?” Scorbunny looked up, wondering who would be so despicable. “Was it those people from the Gulag?”
Steenee shook its head no but still clapped and praised Ceailean for somewhat figuring it out, but they were under no obligation to tell who. Scorbunny stepped forward and yelled, saying that the person that sent them must have done it against Steenee and Roselia’s will. That had to be why they were so cruel. There was no way none of what they did together wasn’t real.
Steenee groaned and yelled at Scorbunny to take the hint. It wasn’t even a hint, they straight up told it the answer and it was still in denial. But Steenee offered to let Scorbunny burn itself as much as it pleases. Scorbunny bit its lip and despair washed across its body. Steenee then signaled to Roselia to store Fomantis somewhere. Roselia nodded and looked around. A newspaper box, that would work. The vines uncurled around Fomantis, allowing it to breathe and open its eyes. But its comfort was short-lived as Roselia opened the newspaper box and shoved Fomantis inside. It then sealed the box with several vines like chains. Fomantis peered through the cracks in the vines and desperately pounded on the clear plastic for Ceailean to help it.
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“And you two have officially taken it too far. It’s too late to apologize now.” Steenee taunted Ceailean for his big words and told him to bring it on. Noibat stepped up and assumed a battle stance. Steenee looked at it amusingly, saying that Noibat was probably the hardest to figure out. It really did like to flaunt around its power like some kind of legendary, but it didn’t really quite click with everything else it showed. It was caring and yet acted like a spoiled child at the same time.
Steenee began to pace counter-clockwise from Noibat, Noibat followed suit. Steenee claimed that Noibat was hiding who it was. All that power isn’t just gifted to any kind of Pokémon. Noibat calmly replied, saying that what it saw was what it got, nothing more. Steenee smirked. It asked if Noibat if its strength really was a fluke, because it seemed like it didn’t know how to use it. Noibat fired back, saying it was this strong because of all the other people and Pokémon that cared for it. It wasn’t just gonna sit by and let the Steenee hurt the people it cares about.
Steenee chuckled, saying that it had over-thought Noibat’s character. It really was just as simple as the rest of them. Noibat looked away and took that as a compliment, simple was all it needed. Steenee scoffed. Noibat acted like such a noble hero type, breaking its spirit would mean Steenee would have to get its hands dirty. Noibat then smirked, if Steenee wanted to talk so big, why was it somewhat opposed to fighting? Infiltrating their group the whole day only to get caught in the end. Now it's trying to break everyone’s spirits to get out of here? How about Steenee prove its bite is as big as its bark.
Steenee sighed. Fighting was so uncouth, annoying, tiring, and filthy. Only primitives solve conflicts with violence. Noibat welcomed Steenee to its world and beckoned it to fight already. Steenee agreed, but told Noibat not to whine when it sends it back to the Pokémon center so broken it can’t be fixed.
Both Pokémon stopped pacing and assumed new battle stances. “Noibat, not sure if it's possible, but I might have an idea. Be ready.” said Ceailean. Noibat nodded. Steenee smirked. Roselia readied a power whip and swung at Noibat’s back. “Whip around and use dragon rush only on your right wing!” Noibat was surprised at the idea and quickly attempted to employ it. It whipped its wing around and bashed away the vine, drenching only its wing in dragon rush energy. Roselia scoffed and reeled back in its vine.
Noibat looked at the energy on its wing. It felt weird, hard to prolong, and made its body uneven. It had no other choice though, so it's something that it would have to work out on the fly. Noibat waved its wing to the side, flushing the energy away. Steenee grumbled to itself before charging in.
“Keep it away with air cutter!” Noibat jumped back and launched three air blades. Steenee stopped to cut the first blade in half, but was forced to retreat on the next two. Roselia then took aim and fired magical leaf. “Block it with dragon rush!” Noibat’s right wing flared up with dragon rush energy and it blocked as much of its body as it could. The leaves bounced off like bullets.
Steenee jumped up with its head glowing white. “Dodge that and kick it down with dragon rush!” Noibat flapped its right wing hard, making it flip around in an unexpected way. Steenee didn’t have time to react before Noibat’s feet flared up with dragon rush and it got doubled heel spiked. Noibat rode Steenee’s head all the way down to the ground, the impact creating a plume of dust.
Roselia called out for Steenee. It ran in with a dazzling rainbow dome covering its body. “Block that!” Noibat used its right wing drenched in dragon rush. But as Roselia got close, its energy blew away like it was dust in the wind, startling Noibat. The energy bashed into it full force, sending it tumbling towards the nearby park. “What the heck happened there?!”
Roselia helped Steenee up by the arm, to which it aggressively pulled it away. “Air cutter!” Noibat flipped back upward and launched two air blades. Roselia responded quickly by spinning around and surrounding both itself and Steenee in magical leaves. Both air blades exploded at a distance. Noibat then jumped in through the smoke. “Dragon rush!” Noibat spun around like a top with its right wing drenched in dragon rush energy. It closed in fast and bashed Roselia on the head with a karate chop. Then upon landing, it spun on its heel and threw a dragon rush roundhouse. Steenee saw it coming and countered by bashing Noibat’s foot away. It then raised its appendages for a double hammerfist.
“Use your head!” Noibat’s entire head exploded with dragon rush, making Steenee’s attack bounce right off and making it lose its balance. Noibat then grabbed Steenee’s shoulder and bashed it with a dragon rush headbutt. Steenee fell back a few feet and Noibat dissipated its attack.
Steenee quickly stood back up and groaned. It kicked the dirt in frustration, spouting out about how annoying this fight was. “What? You’re complaining Steenee? Or are you just stalling?” Steenee shot him a glaring look. Ceailean was feeling confident, but then he looked back at Noibat and lost that confidence. Noibat was out of breath and sweating profusely. Steenee pointed out to Noibat that no matter how strong it was, fighting two Pokémon at once alone is always a struggle. It’s not in the condition nor has the power to end this fight quickly. So Steenee crossed its arms and told Noibat to just sit down and get defeated already. Noibat grit its teeth, knowing this was going to be the hardest fight it's ever been in.
Roselia stood up on its feet and faced Noibat from behind. Then suddenly, red energy glowed from the ground underneath it. It groaned in a bored kind of way and twirled to the side as the ground exploded with red sparks, dirt, and grass. Roselia shouted to the sky, asking whether or not its attacker was going to give up.
Ceailean turned around and saw Solosis up in the air nearby, covered in dirt and panting. Solosis taunted the two adversaries, saying it had way more where that came from. Solosis then gasped as it quickly ducked down under a vine swinging like bolas. Roselia scoffed at itself for missing.
“Solosis! Good thing you’re here! I just remembered something really important and you’re perfect for the job.” said Ceailean. Solosis floated around happily and flew down to Ceailean. Before he spoke, Solosis gave Steenee a smirk, thinking it would finally be able to prove it wrong. Steenee however, stood confidently and let Ceailean say his request.
“Something’s been on my mind ever since we met Aeise for the first time. You remember?” Solosis nodded. “And do you remember the conversation we had with each other that night?” Solosis nodded again, slightly more eagerly. “I need you to find her for me,” Solosis nodded as excitedly as it could, “And make sure she stays as far away from here as possible.”
A moment of silence passed. Steenee then burst out laughing. Solosis told it to shut up. But Steenee pressed on, saying that Ceailean would rather trust a broken spirited Pokémon rather than Solosis.
“Solosis, I’m telling you that this is probably the most important job I’m giving you. I can’t let Marie see this. No more villains, right?” Solosis nodded, but being sent away was eating at its confidence. Ceailean then lowered his voice. “Also, don’t look now, but ever since we confronted the two, I feel like we’re being watched. And I can’t pinpoint a direction either, so I think there’s multiple of them.” A wave of fear washed over Solosis. “We’ll probably have to deal with them after those two, and I know for sure we can only go for so long.” Solosis started to stammer, asking how Ceailean was planning to get out of this. “I have an idea, but just find Marie and keep her distracted. I have a feeling she might be investigating where those explosions came from, so start there.” Solosis pondered for a moment before hesitantly nodding. “Thank you, I’m trusting you to do this.”
Steenee waved Solosis goodbye, calling it a useless bouncy ball. Solosis snapped at this and glowed a bright yellow. Noibat and Scorbunny soon found themselves covered in a yellow checkerboard shield. “What’s that?” Ceailean checked his pokédex. “Reflect? You’ve been hiding this move?” Solosis tried to remind him that he could just check his pokédex. It then turned to Noibat, telling it to beat the ever living daylights out of Steenee and Roselia. Noibat raised its wing and smirked. Solosis nodded to Ceailean and quickly flew off back the way it came.
“Scorbunny. Come on, I need you to snap out of it, we don’t wanna waste Solosis’s gift.” Scorbunny sadly nodded and slowly put up a battle stance, Steenee then got a devious idea. It signaled Roselia and told it to distract Noibat. Roselia nodded. It burst into dazzling gleam and charged at Noibat. “Noibat! Get back!” Noibat jumped away from the attack as fast as it could.
Steenee then smirked and sped away towards Scorbunny. “Whoa! What the heck?! Scorbunny, get away using bounce!” Scorbunny looked up, seemingly taken out of a trance. Before it could react, Steenee bashed it upwards with a double slap. Scorbunny flew up into the air, but the yellow shield flared up and made it feel hardly anything.
Noibat dashed away from Roselia’s constant barrages of dazzling gleams. But then it noticed Scorbunny getting pummeled. It called out to Scorbunny and rushed out to help. Roselia figured out what Steenee was up to and shot a magical leaf at Noibat. Noibat was forced to turn around and block the attack with dragon rush.
Steenee jumped up and bashed Scorbunny back down into the ground. Despite the reflect shield still flaring up, Scorbunny continued to get knocked around. Steenee landed down on the ground and ran up to Scorbunny just as it was getting up, grabbing it by the shoulder. It’s head then glowed a bright pink and Steenee bashed Scorbunny’s face into the ground with its head.
“That move! I’ve seen it before.” Ceailean remembered back to the Drapion fight. Medicham used the same move. “Zen headbutt.” Ceailean grit his teeth. “Scorbunny! Come on! I’m begging you! Snap out of it or you’re gonna get beaten to a pulp!” Steenee then walked over to Scorbunny, struggling to get up from the ground. Steenee wound up with a double slap attack. Scorbunny braced itself by covering its head. Noibat then shouted at Steenee to stop, flying in with a dragon rush drop kick. Steenee smirked however, anticipating this very reaction.
It swung around and uppercutted Noibat right up its back. “No!” shouted Ceailean. Noibat flew up into the air, the yellow shield flaring up intensely. Roselia then appeared above it and shot back down with a burst of dazzling gleam. Noibat careened down to the ground and crashed with a giant explosion of dust. The reflect shield cushioned its fall somewhat, but it still hurt. Noibat tried to get out of the crater it was in, but Steenee quickly went in and stomped down on Noibat’s head, pinning it to the ground.
Roselia landed back on the ground and pressed its flowered into the ground. The ground ahead of it then bulged outward, as if something was digging underneath. The bulges came under Noibat and out burst two huge vines, viciously piercing Noibat’s stomach. Noibat flew into the air and came back down directly into Steenee’s sideways double slap straight into the back.
“Noibat!” said Ceailean. Noibat flew through the air, spinning and spinning until its back bashed against a tree to the sound of something cracking, then it fell on the ground. Scorbunny watched in horror as its great friend was being beaten up unlike anything it's ever seen before.
Steenee chuckled, saying that Noibat was finally finished. But it doubted Noibat’s spirit would be broken with its own defeat. Being as simple as it was, its friends are what it cares most about. And if Steenee could beat the life out of its friends, then its spirit would finally be broken. Steenee and Roselia then walked over towards Scorbunny, each equally as intimidating. Steenee pounded its fists together with a smirk while Roselia approached with a cold expression, readying its power whip.
“Scorbunny…!” said Ceailean, worriedly stepping towards it. Scorbunny moved back, absolutely terrified out of its mind. The friends it's made were coming to hurt it, but it couldn’t find the will to fight back. That is when something got everyone’s attention. Faint cackling, and it was coming from behind Steenee and Roselia. Scorbunny raised its head to peek behind them, and the two turned around to see what was happening.
It was Noibat. It was smiling and snickering while getting up off the ground. Steenee let out its biggest groan yet, saying that Noibat was a stubborn Pokémon that doesn’t know its place. It then rushed towards Noibat, charging up the biggest zen headbutt it could. Roselia could tell that something was different however and urged Steenee to get back, but it was ignored.
Noibat cricked its neck back and forth, bones cracking each time it did so. It turned around still snickering and faced Steenee head on. When Steenee was just a few feet away, Noibat bent down and yelled more loudly than it ever has before. Noibat exploded into a monstrously huge dragon, shoving Steenee away with just the sheer force alone. Steenee slid on its back next to Roselia’s feet. Roselia knelt down next to it to see if it was fine. But they were both distracted as Noibat began to yell even louder.
The entire area was engulfed in purple light and shadow. Nothing remained of the golden lights. Cars stopped, bystanders watched, and the very city shook under Noibat’s power.
Ceailean covered his eyes with his arms, but he was still blinded. “What the heck is that bright light?!” Scorbunny watched in awe as Noibat’s power grew. Eventually, the energy became so dense that Noibat’s body was completely obscured with the purple dragon rush energy. Only its silhouette was visible with the densest darkest energy forming it.
Noibat then gave its final and loudest roar, bursting the energy around it as if it were tectonic plates shattering. A purple wave of energy swept through the city and the light returned to normal. Everyone couldn’t believe their eyes. As the remaining energy fluttered off of Noibat’s body like burning paper, there it stood with a brilliant purple aura. Shining and pristine, much unlike the crude and destructive aura of dragon rush. Noibat crossed its wings and stared down Steenee.
It spoke, saying that Steenee was right. If it lost here, that would be on Noibat for being weak. But as soon as Steenee threatened its friends, it couldn’t sit idly. So it drew a new strength within itself that it never knew it had, and it was ready to test out on some really bad Pokémon. Noibat spread its wings intimidatingly as another burst of energy rushed through the wind, obliterating the casts around its body. It also thanked Steenee for fixing its back, it was becoming a real hassle.
Scorbunny welled up with tears. It cried out to Noibat, telling it to win the fight for Scorbunny. It was too weak, but now Noibat might have enough power to take them both.
Noibat vehemently shook its head and shouted absolutely not. Scorbunny was stunned, falling to its knees and asking why. Noibat stared at it stoically.
“It wants you to fight your own battles, Scorbunny.” said Ceailean. Scorbunny gasped and looked back at him. He walked up and kneeled next to Scorbunny. “These two betrayed you. You gave so much kindness to them. And what did they do? They crushed it into a ball and threw it away.” Scorbunny hung its head sadly. “That’s why you have to stand up for yourself. You can’t let others take advantage of you like that.”
Scorbunny pounded the ground. It screamed out how it just wasn’t strong enough. It just couldn’t fight Steenee, no matter what. Ceailean’s expression then turned dark. “You didn’t act this way during Tuviere.” Noibat was even a little put off that Ceailean would bring that up now. Scorbunny’s tears stopped as its sadness turned to that of confused anger. it grabbed Ceailean by the collar of the shirt and angrily asked why that mattered. Tuviere and now were completely different circumstances. Why is it now up for comparison. Was that all Ceailean cared about? Would he betray Scorbunny like Steenee and Roselia did.
“There’s that anger you need.” Ceailean said with a smile. Scorbunny stopped for a moment. “Even if how we got here was different, the stakes are quite similar aren’t they?” Scorbunny let go of Ceailean’s collar and waited for him to explain. “You wouldn’t just let Darke get away with all your friends by doing nothing, would you?” Scorbunny’s anger welled up again, saying that it would never do nothing. “Then just what do you think you’re doing now?!” Scorbunny was stunned.
Ceailean pointed to the newspaper box Fomantis was trapped in. “Look over there. Fomantis is trapped in a cramped little box, much like the ones I saved you from and the ones your friends were trapped in.” Fomantis desperately pounded on the plastic, begging to be let out. Scorbunny’s tears began to flow again. “You’d never let anyone trap your friends like that. That’s the Scorbunny I knew. The one who tried so hard all the way to the end at Tuviere. You’re not gonna just let them take Fomantis like that, are you?”
Steenee taunted Scorbunny, asking if it really thought it would stand a chance. “If not for yourself, then do it for Fomantis.” encouraged Ceailean. He stood up. “Because right now, Fomantis needs your help more than anything.”
Scorbunny sighed and kicked the dust off the ground. Everyone waited a moment. Then Scorbunny’s leg burst into flames and it pounded the ground hard with it. The earth underneath it split apart, forming a small cracked circle around it. Through the cracks spewed flames and the outer perimeter of the circle spewed into a ring of fire. Steenee and Roselia assumed new battle stances. Scorbunny slapped both of its cheeks and stared down the two, ready for action.
“That’s the spirit! Now, let’s show ‘em what happens when they mess with our friends!” Scorbunny assumed a runner's stance, ready to spring forward. Noibat smirked, absolutely excited to see Scorbunny’s battle instinct return. But, not to be out done, Noibat exploded into a smaller more reasonable dragon rush, its gleaming aura showering the dragon rush aura with sparkles.
Steenee was going to have to take this battle seriously now. It told Roselia that it would handle scarlet while Roselia should handle violet. Roselia nodded and turned around to face Noibat. Both sides of the battlefield were covered in scarlet and violet light, Noibat and Scorbunny raring to battle.
Ceailean pushed up his glasses. “Okay then,” he took a step forward, “Go!”